An evaluation of teachers\u27 perceptions of a state developed educational portal

The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers’ perceptions use of a state developed educational portal. The research evaluated the differences in the quality, usefulness, and relevance of learning objects found on the website based on teachers’ gender and grade level they taught. Grade level taught referred to those grades that are the focus of a participant’s position: primary (K-2), elementary (3-5), middle school (6-8) and high school (9-12). The learning objects included: frameworks, tasks, standards, and videos. The researcher also reviewed the relationship between teachers’ use of the learning objects and the teachers’ level of technology integration according to the Apple Computer of Tomorrow technology integration scale. The research also investigated the change in the teachers’ classroom pedagogy after using the website. The instrument used was a 20-question online Likert-scale survey administered to 900 teachers in Walton County Public Schools (grades K-12). The return rate on the survey was 419, or 46.5%. All survey returns were calculated for the statistical analysis. The data from the survey revealed a significant difference in the variables used in the study (quality, usefulness, relevance of frameworks, tasks, standards, and videos) based on gender and grade level taught. Other demographics were analyzed and those items (age, years taught, and academic area) did not show a significant difference. The survey questions dealing with extent of usage and teacher pedagogy assist both the researcher and Walton County. The questions followed the growth of the teachers and the expectations of the changes in use of technology following their redelivery training on using the state-developed educational portal. Finally, the website is a living document, so information gathered from this study will be used to make changes for all teachers in the state